Gray's two homers spark Menchville's 9-1 rout of Woodside

March 20, 2010|By By Dave Johnson | | 247-4649

NEWPORT NEWS — With plenty of pitching and experience, Menchville's biggest question mark coming into the season was hitting. The Monarchs lost some big bats from last year's state championship team, including Matt Armstead and Jharel Cotton.

But if this week is any indication, there's no cause for alarm. Following an opening-day hammering of Warwick, the Monarchs had 11 hits Friday afternoon in a 9-1 home win over Woodside.

Menchville (2-0) scored six runs in the first two innings, and right-hander Austin Chrismon cruised to his 17th win in as many varsity starts. The first three batters in the lineup went a combined 8-for-10 with nine RBI.

"The offense is coming around very well," said Menchville coach Phil Forbes, whose team won by the same score against Warwick. "We have key players who are veterans, and we have key young players who are first-year players.

"I'm very surprised. And I'm very proud at how our offense is coming around."

It started at the top, where leadoff man Deron Hanley was 3-for-3 with a walk, three runs scored, and two driven in. Hunter Lewis was 3-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt and three RBI. And Jeff Gray was 2-for-4 with a pair of two-run homers.

It was a particularly sweet day for Gray, who struggled at the plate in Wednesday's opener.

"Yesterday at practice, I worked on staying back," he said. "I just made sure that whenever there was an off-speed pitch, I was ready for it. I wanted to attack first-pitch strikes."

That's just what he did in the bottom of the first, when he jumped on the first pitch from Woodside's Brett Mays. Gray's shot easily cleared the fence in left-center and wound up on the football practice field to give Menchville a 2-0 lead.

In the second, right after Lewis' two-run double, Forbes called for a hit-and-run with Gray at the plate. He sent another shot to left-center, this one not quite as no-doubt-about-it. But it was gone, putting the Monarchs ahead 6-0.

Gray and Forbes both credited hitting coach Jeff Gray Sr. — the player's father — with getting the bats ready this season.

"They listen to him," Forbes said, "and they're mentally ready."

Chrismon cruised through the first five innings and was working on a shutout until Terrell Joyce took him deep for a solo homer in the sixth. He got the complete-game win by giving up five hits, no walks, and striking out nine.

Getting staked to a 6-0 lead after two innings sure didn't hurt.

"Just to get ahead in a game like this, it makes it easier on me," he said. "I never want to give up a run, but when Terrell hit that home run … no biggie. It boosted his stats. Kind of hurts mine a little."